Monday, March 31, 2008

Cool stuff!! ASCII Art in Google AdWords

ASCII Art in Google AdWords

NYC Alcoholics rejoice! Wakozi is Kozmo For Booze ...

A great local e-commerce service is back on the block in Manhattan...

One of the great flameouts of the 1990s tech boom was Kozmo, which started in Manhattan, and let you order a pint of Ben & Jerry’s online and a Kozmo bike messenger would deliver it to your door. After burning through $280 million in capital, they closed shop. Well, now New Yorkers have Wakozi. It just launched and only covers Manhattan wine shops, liquor stores, and delis. But they’ve learned from the failure of Kozmo. They don’t actually deliver anything themselves. Instead, they only list inventories of shops that make their own deliveries.
Wakozi is Kozmo For Booze

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Amazon Still Reaping Benefits from Risk on Amazon Prime | BNET.com

Amazon is reaping the benefits from the risk they took with their Amazon Prime offer...

Jeff Bezos, who was deemed crazy at the time of the Amazon prime launch in early 2005, said this:

"Amazon Prime is all-you-can-eat express shipping," Bezos says. "Though expensive for the company in the short term, it's a significant benefit and more convenient for the customer."

Well, it turns out Bezos was right. The Amazon Prime strategy has helped to accelerate user growth, purchase frequency and unit growth at the company in the past year, while the e-commerce market has "deteriorated".

Meaning: free delivery/unlimited delivery for an annual fee generated more costumers, induced cross-category shopping, increased average basket value and purchase frequency!
Amazon Still Reaping Benefits from Risk on Amazon Prime | BNET Intercom | BNET.com

Google's 'Search Within A Site' makes e-retailers mad...



On March 4, Google introduced a new feature that lets users stay on Google to find pages inside major sites. The search box appears when someone enters the name of certain Web addresses or company names rather than searching for specific terms (see screenshot above, courtesy of Techcrunch).

The feature is drawing the ire of many e-retailers, who raise two primary concerns:

  • First, ads for competitors can be displayed on the Google results page of a site search. This could mean lost traffic and sales for the searched retailer!
  • Second, performing a site search on Google does not take into account merchandising rules retailers create for their own in-site search tool.
Techcrunch's take

The New York Times' take

Internet Retailer's take

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Straight from Sequoia Capital: key drivers of success

Great stuff from venture firm  Sequoia: key drivers of success for any startup looking for venture capital to drive growth.

Here there are:

Clarity of Purpose

Summarize the company's business on the back of a business card.

Large Markets

Address existing markets poised for rapid growth or change. A market on the path to a $1B potential allows for error and time for real margins to develop.

Rich Customers

Target customers who will move fast and pay a premium for a unique offering.

Focus

Customers will only buy a simple product with a singular value proposition.

Pain Killers

Pick the one thing that is of burning importance to the customer then delight them with a compelling solution.

Think Differently

Constantly challenge conventional wisdom. Take the contrarian route. Create novel solutions. Outwit the competition.

Team DNA

A company’s DNA is set in the first 90 days. All team members are the smartest or most clever in their domain. "A" level founders attract an "A" level team.

Agility

Stealth and speed will usually help beat-out large companies.

Frugality

Focus spending on what's critical. Spend only on the priorities and maximize profitability.

Inferno

Start with only a little money. It forces discipline and focus. A huge market with customers yearning for a product developed by great engineers requires very little firepower.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

iPhone showing great promise for mobile commerce...

Surveys by rating and review site Viewpoints.com found big differences in the way iPhone owners use their phones compared with other cell phone owners:

48% of iPhone users said they frequently look up information online, compared with 5% of users of other cell phones

Which means they might be more inclined to shop online using their iPhone?
More details on the survey here:
InternetRetailer.com - Daily News for Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Amazon launches two applications for Facebook... Finally!

Amazon has just put out two applications for social network Facebook:

- Amazon Giver allows users to view friends’ wish lists and link directly to Amazon to purchase gifts.

- Amazon Grapevine displays a Facebook member’s friends’ recent Amazon.com activity (reviews, wish list adds, tags, purchases).

Both applications share information only with friends that the Facebook user selects when adding the application., but not with ALL the user’s friends, in the face of widespread criticism that Facebook's Beacon system violated users’ privacy.

Given Amazon and Facebook's user base size and overlaps (everybody?), and Amazon's huge product catalog, this is going to be a great tool for word-of-mouth marketing. I'll try it out and post some more...
InternetRetailer.com - Daily News for Thursday, March 13, 2008

Friday, March 14, 2008

Another Social Shopping Facebook Application - MyShopping from SecretPrices.com

SecretPrices.com, a 'shopping mashup combining price comparison, bargains and coupons', from NextGen Shopping LLC in the US, launched yet another social shopping app for Facebook, called MyShopping.

Add the app to your profile, and you can start searching, rating, sharing/recommending and purchasing products within Facebook. Product data comes from the SecretPrices database, and products can be purchased from merchants participating in the SecretPrices program.

A revenue sharing program for the app users is coming soon, according to the company's blog.

Social Shopping Facebook Application - SecretPrices.com

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Up Next: on-board e-commerce

Want to shop online while on a train, plane or boat?
Be careful what you wish for, it's coming your way...

Canadian solutions provider GuestLogix has launched a "Mobile Virtual Store", which once installed, enables passengers to shop from their seat, whether it be a cup of coffee and meal from the on-board bar or any other product that transport companies wish to offer to increase passenger service and profitability from seat rental...

New British train campany Grand Central Railway Company has installed it on its three brand new lines.

Check it out online at GuestLogix™ | Powering On-Board Retail™

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Social Commerce : Turn your Facebook profile into an online store

BSocial Networks Inc. has launched 'Market Lodge', a system designed for Facebook that enables the social network's users to create miniature e-commerce stores on their Facebook pages.

It's yet another approach to Social Commerce. Facebook users can set-up a personalized marketplace, picking products from about 50 retailers so far, and share revenues with BSocial (www.bsocialnetworks.com).

Here's the link to the 'Market Lodge' Facebook application if you'd like to try it out: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=7274648061&b&ref=pd

Also see Zlio, www.zlio.com, one of the Social Shopping pioneers, where you can set up an affiliate online store replete with products and content in minutes.
InternetRetailer.com - Daily News for Monday, March 3, 2008

 
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